Breading machine for raw oysters



Nov. 17, 1953 G. T. HARRISON 2,659,339

BREADING MACHINE FOR RAW OYSTERS Filed March 28, 1952 INVENTOR GEORGE 7T HARR/so/v ATTORNEYS ff" 3 U Patented Nov. 17, 1953 BREADING MACHINE FOR RAW OYSTERS- George T. Harrison, Tilghman, Md., assignor to Tilghman Packing Company, Tilghman, Md., a corporation of Maryland Application March 28, 1952, Serial No. 279,010

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates broadly to the preparation of food products and, more particularly, to the covering of such products with an edible coating. While the invention is not to be considered as limited to the covering of any particular food or other product, or to any particular coating material, it is of particular utility in the coating of ,raw, shucked oysters and in this application it will be so described.

The invention described and claimed in this application constitutes an improvement over that described and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 253,775, filed October 30, 1951, for Breading Machine, and it has been the principal object of my invention, which is achieved in the manner and by the means described herein, to provide new and improved apparatus for applying an edible adherent coating to a food product such as a raw, shucked oyster.

Other objects and features of novelty of my invention will be made apparent by the following description and the appended claims, reference being made to drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a generally schematic side view of an oyster breading machine according to my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of such a machine.

A breading machine constructed and operative in accordance with my invention is disclosed in the drawings forming part of this application and comprises a hopper 2, the open lower end of which is positioned above the lowermost end of the upper reach 4 of an upwardly-inclined endless conveyor belt 6. Finely ground breading or similar material is contained in the hopper 2 and is fed from the lower end thereof to the upper reach 4 of the conveyor belt, by which it is moved upwardly.

At its upper end the reach 4 of conveyor 6 passes over a pulley 8 and continues in a generally horizontal plane as shown at III, the lower reach of the conveyor 6 being preferably held against the pulley 8 by an idler roller [2. Breading or other material on reach 4 of the conveyor is adapted to be delivered, preferably in equal amounts, to two hoppers I4, l6 which are positioned, respectively, at or adjacent the pulley 8 at the beginning of the horizontal part of the reach, and at the delivery end of the reach. Breading material is diverted from upper reach 4 of belt 6 into hopper M by means of a baflie or arm 18 which extends from the upper end of the hopper approximately half way across the belt and in scraping engagement therewith. Breading is delivered to hopper l6 by falling directly into the hopper from the end of the upper reach of the conveyor.

A second conveyor belt 20 is disposed in sideby-side relation to the belt 6 and moves in the opposite direction. The inlet end of the upper 2 reach 22 of belt 20 is disposed at a lower level than the delivery end of belt 6 and is guided in a generally horizontal plane. The hoppers l4, 16 are laterally inclined so that their open bottoms 15, ll overlie parts of the horizontal part of upper reach 22 which are spaced in the direction of travel of the belt. The delivery end of belt 26 is upwardly inclined, as shown at 24, and terminates above the inlet end of the upper reach 26 of an endless wire mesh belt 28, below the lower reach of which is the open upper end of the breading hopper 2.

The delivery end of the upper reach 26 of belt 28 overlies the entrance end of a downwardly inclined trough 36, the delivery end of which overlies the inlet end of the upper reach 32 of an endless wire mesh belt 34, the lower reach of which overlies the open upper end of a vat 36 which contains batter. The lower part of the vat is connected to the inlet end of trough 30 through piping 38 and pump 40, whereby the trough is constantly supplied with liquid batter which flows along it, and falls from it through the wire mesh belt 34 into the vat 36.

The delivery end of the upper reach 32 of the wire mesh belt overlies the inlet end of the upper reach 40 of an upwardly-inclined endless conveyor belt 422. The delivery end of the upper reach 40 of belt 42 overlies the inlet end of the upper reach 44 of an endless wire mesh belt 46, the lower reach of which is disposed above the open upper end of a hopper 48, the open lower end of which lies above the inlet end of the upper reach 50 of an endless conveyor belt 52 which is disposed in side-by-side relation to conveyor belt 42, is inclined oppositely with respect thereto and travels in the opposite direction. The delivery end of the upper reach 5d of belt 52 overlies the open upper end of a hopper 60 which is disposed above and adjacent the inlet end of the upper reach 40 of endless belt 42 and which has, at its lower part, two discharge openings 62, 64 which are spaced longitudinally of the upper reach 40.

In the use and operation of the described machine it will be assumed that raw oysters are to be breaded. Each raw, untreated oyster is placed on the upper reach 22 of the conveyor 20 between the discharge ports ll, I5 of the hoppers l6, 14. The breading material passing out of the leading discharge port I! will fall on the reach 22 and coat the same so that when the oyster is placed on the reach at the described point it will immediately receive on its lower surface a coating of breading material. The material falling from the trailing port l5 will fall onto the upper and side surfaces of the oyster as the oyster passes under port 15 as the belt moves, thus completely covering the oyster with a coating of breading material. When the coated oyster reaches the discharge end of reach 22 of conveyor 3 20 it will fall therefrom onto the upper reach of wire mesh belt 28 and will be delivered from the delivery end o'f'this belt to the inlet end of the trough 3!. At the same time, excess breading material falling from the upper reach 22 onto the belt 28 will pass through the belt into the hopper 2 from which it will be re-delivered to the upper reach 4 of conveyor 6. The breaded oyster will be moved along the trough 30 by the moving stream of batter in the trough and him doing will be completely coated with batter. The oyster thus coated will fall from the delivery end of the trough onto the upper reach 32 of conveyor 34 while excess batter flowing from the delivery end of the trough will pass through the wire mesh belt 34 and fall into the vat 36. lhe oyster, which is now covered with batter, will fall from the delivery end of belt 34 onto the, inlet end of the upper reach 40 or belt 42 at a point between'the discharge openings 62, 64 of breading hopper ill, thus insuring that the batter-covered surface of. the oyster will receive a complete coating of. breading. The oyster will be moved to the discharge end of reach in of belt 42 from which it will fall onto the upper reach of wire, mesh belt 46 and will pass from the delivery end there,- of to a storage, packing or other means. Excess breading material falling from the upper reach 4a of conveyor 42 onto the. wire mesh belt 48. will pass through the belt into the hopper 48 from which it will be delivered by the upper reach 50 of. conveyor 52 to. the hopper 60 from which it will be redelivered to the upper reach 40 of conveyor 42.

It will be apparent that by the means provided by this invention an oyster or other food product will be given a first coating of an adherent material such as breading, then a coatingv of adherent batter, and then a second coating of breading material and that, by reason of the. construction and arrangement of the parts, all surfaces of the oyster or other food product will be completely covered.

While Iv have described a machine for applying three coatings to the food product it will be apparent that within the scope of the invention additional coatings may be applied to the. food product by utilization of means which are the same asor similar to those disclosed. It willalso be apparent that within the scope of. this invention products other than food products, may be treated by the means disclosed. The disclosed means and apparatus are not to be considered, therefore, as limiting the invention in any way and. a definition of the scope of the invention must be hadby reference to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for providing an edible coating to an edible food product such as any oyster which has such a texture that. dry particles will adhere thereto, comprising a first endless conveyor belt on the upper reach of which un-coated edible products are adapted to be placed at a predetermined point, means for supplying dry, edible granular material to saidupper reach at points behind and ahead of said predetermined point whereby the entire outer surface of the product is covered as the conveyor belt moves, a first endless wire mesh conveyor belt at the delivery endof, said conveyor belt to receive and separate the coated products and the excess granular material not, adheringthereto, an in-, clined trough having its inlet end disposed .belowv the delivery end of said wire mesh conveyor belt.

means for introducing batter into the inlet end of said trough to produce a flowing stream of batter therein which carries the breaded product along the trough and coats it with batter, a second endless wire mesh conveyor belt having its inlet end positioned below the delivery end of the trough to receive coated products therefrom, a vat positioned below said second wire mesh belt to receiveexcess batter from the delivery end of the trough, a second endless conveyor belt having the inlet end 'of" the upper reach thereof positigned below the delivery end of said second wire mesh belt to receive coated edible products therefrom at a pre-determined point, a first hopper positioned above the inlet end of said second conveyor belt, and having two discharge ports spaced longitudinally of said belt at points behind and ahead of said rare-determined point thereon, a third endless wire mesh, belt having its inlet and positioned below the de i r n of ai ec nd conveyor belt to receive coated edible products therefrom, a second hopper positioned below said third wire mesh. belt to receive excess breeding material passing therethrough and an pen. disc ar ort hi endless B Q having its inlet end positioned belowthe third himperv to receive. material therefrom and the. deuverv n'd. white nos i ne above h en u per e i, sa d. t 999 paratus awbxd ps to a m. 1 p i g in addition, means. for supplying batter from the a o the inlet and the r h- 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for supplying granular material to the upper reach of the first conveyor belt comprises h rd. gp r ev l t Open upper an 9 .5 tionecl below first wire mesh belt, a fourth endless conveyor belttheinlet end of the upper reach oi which is positioned below said hopper o. ec ve m te ial: th re rom hopper. w s its open upper end positioned at the delivery and of aid; flmr hv qqn s r b l o ec v m ter e e r m empty ng, a isqh i e. POIt Pos t e bove. he rst-sewers? be h d O he wedetermi ed oi t. he at. hich, News dib e-.n l ue sa e a edfi er r Henrik; 199.- per av n t p up and po l ilned sai nt he qu h convert?! glte m t ahead f he e iv r dgihw e e t nd evts. e g a se pe t mali ne were he. first onve or. elt in he dire i f rave i e e mm he rede m ne mimthe at uncoated edible products are placed thereon, and ea s or. mo ne m e qur hwa qv be a aidfiourm nner st d ums o e ma erialonsaid fourth c nveyor belt.

4.. Appara u award n qc in which the e n or. movin m t i l omitherfourt nv yor belt totbeiourth hopper comprlsesa baiile extending fromthe- Open upper endof the hopp r p rtia y a ross. the upp r reach of the nvevq bel and-. 11 s ap n n a emen themwith,

GEORGET. HARRISON.

References. Cited in the. flleof. this. patent. UNITED. AT PATEN'IS 

